Page 7 of Protecting my Zinnia

"And I'm closest to the kitchen for when I'm cooking," Lily adds.

"The corner is perfect." My sisters know that I prefer to work completely undisturbed, with huge headphones blocking the world out.

I turn back to them with an evil grin. "This is the last day that Dad's credit card will work."

"Yeah," Rose says with a sigh. "But I can't think of anything else we could possibly need."

"What about new computers?" They both stare at me as if I've grown a second head. "Why not? All our laptops are getting old, and my work desktop is a fossil."

Lily's fingers tap on the table. "Dad loves it when we share. If we got you a fancy new desktop computer and said it was for all three of us…"

"And of course you could use it whenever you're doing some illustration or whatever," I say.

Rose looks worried. "Isn't that too much?"

Lily rolls her eyes. "Dad just got a giant promotion and a huge moving bonus. And he's no longer feeding us."

"It could also be another one of his precious tests," I say. "To see if we're smart enough to stockpile everything we need for the next six months while we get our businesses going."

Rose grabs her battered laptop covered in stickers. "Let's do it."

"Yeah." Lily brings her coffee over to her new desk. "Let's start our businesses off with a bang."

After grabbing a handful of fruit and topping up my coffee, I take a few minutes to allow my machine to boot up. Then I select the new laptop and the desktop computer I've had wishlisted for months, plus all of the cables, accessories and an extra external monitor, put it all in my cart, and hit that shiny buy button. Thanks, Dad. Seriously, I hope his head doesn't pop off when he gets the bill.

Then I start hunting around online, trying to figure out how I'm going to advertise illustration and marketing services in Sandersville. I find the town's community online bulletin board run by the local newspaper advertising all kinds of services. I draft an ad and post it immediately, and also buy a bunch more credits so I can post every few weeks for the rest of the year.

I'm happy to do online work for anyone in the world, but I do want to get some jobs where I can meet the client face to face. Maybe it's silly, but it feels more real.

That makes me think of Evan again. He's so real… Solid… Wild. My mind keeps jumping to him every time I stop for a moment.

Thing is, Evan is a lot older than I am. I don't want him to think he needs to take care of me. I don't want to be a burden.

Stretching, I hear Rose is on the phone with Aunt Doug, going through anything we may have forgotten to order. I take a break and jump in the shower, then clip my hair into a rough braid so that it will dry wavy. I return to the main room just as Lily is taking a seat near Rose.

"Doing your hair for another date with our window guy tonight, Zin?" she laughs, just as Rose says, "I'm putting you on speaker." Rose looks instantly horrified.

"Hey, Aunt Doug," I say cheerfully toward the phone.

"Zinnia, it's your father. What's this about a date with a window guy?"

Oh, crap.

"Just an in-joke. Lily's kidding," I say quickly. Although it's not exactly a lie, I'm sure he can hear the tension in my voice.

"You girls are much too young to be dating," Dad says sternly. "Especially Zinnia."

"How old were you when you married mom, Dad?" Lily asks mildly.

Several seconds of complete silence.

"I think Dad was twenty-five and Mom was twenty-three," Rose says. "So that means I'd better get moving. All of us should. In fact—"

"That's enough," Dad snaps. "Times are different now. Zinnia is barely out of her teens. I will not have her dating when I'm not there to at least meet the boy."

"How's London, Dad?" Rose's tone announces she's changing the subject permanently.

I only half listen as Dad goes on about the rain and his oddly formal office environment. I'm seething. I'm twenty years old, for goodness' sake. When will he stop treating me like a child?